Landscape Project Group works to get a good outcome for the economy and the environment
The Golden Bay Landscape Project Working Group has held its first meeting.
Part of the council’s Landscape Project for Golden Bay, the working group of over 20 members, is intended to be a conduit of information from interested parties to council staff who must then advise council on a plan change.
The plan change is to incorporate a strategy to protect outstanding natural features and landscapes (ONFLs) from inappropriate subdivision, use and development. Under section 6(b) of the Resource Management Act, councils are required to identify outstanding landscapes for protection and, as council planner Shelagh Noble says, the Act “talks about the fact that when you recognise something, you would want to protect it”.
In putting the group together, council has cast its net widely. The following groups are represented: council, community board, iwi, Federated Farmers, Forest and Bird, Department of Conservation, fishing, marine farming, tourism, real estate, quarrying and transportation interests, as well as the friends of Nelson Haven and Tasman Bay, and the Friends of Golden Bay. The two friends organisations were involved in a memorandum of understanding with council in 2008, but the council did not deliver on its undertakings to identify ONFLs and introduce a plan change to protect them.
Council commissioned two reports by landscape architects Boffa Miskell, one in 2005, and another in 2010 that was released earlier this year. The Boffa reports set out some options for determining which parts of Golden Bay are ONFLs, but there was some nervousness among landowners, some of whom who felt that there was a chance the whole of the Bay could be designated as outstanding and then made subject to very restrictive planning controls.
Federated Farmers spokesman Graham Ball said: “The meeting of the working group is a big step.
“All the different sectors will be sitting down and getting our heads around the issues like what might be ‘outstanding’. Consultation on private land is a big issue for farmers. Good farming practises must be able to continue without extra costs and regulation. A lot of the Bay is already protected because it’s part of the DOC estate. There’s already a lot of protection for the landscape in the plan.”
Ms Noble agreed that protection already exists, adding, “The problem with the district plan is that it has twin purposes: to protect the environment from harm like discharge and so on, and to promote good development in the right locations. Sometimes these purposes get confused because they are both in the same document. The purpose of identifying outstanding landscapes is to encourage development in the right places. I’ve been encouraged by the huge willingness of people from different value positions to work together and get a good outcome. I hope that the first meeting will have eased anxieties on all sides.”
Ms Noble explained that the first meeting of the working party also determined the protocols as to how the members of the group want this work to continue. One challenge facing the group was sharing the differing levels of expertise and experience among its members, she said.
“We hope to dispel any anxiety about where we will be going next, what our priorities should be and how we are going to keep everybody informed. People say that they don’t want more rules and regulations, they want more clarity and certainty.”
The working party’s role will be important in helping to shape the change to the plan, said Ms Noble.
“It’s much better that we resolve differences in the early stages rather than having an argument in the Environment Court. If that happens, it won’t be in the plan for even longer.”
Ms Noble cited the Aorere Catchment Group as a successful example to inspire the working party.
“I think that Golden Bay is the sort of community that’s prepared to sit down in their own time and get a good outcome for the economy and the environment.”
Neil Wilson
